


More Than Friends?

by russthewriter



Category: American Housewife (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/russthewriter/pseuds/russthewriter
Summary: Oliver and Cooper have just broken up with their respective girlfriends but they start noticing growing feelings between each other.
Relationships: Cooper Bradford/Oliver Otto
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This fanfic takes place right at the end of 4x09.

“I love you, bro,” Cooper said to Oliver, a longing glance in his eyes.  
“I love you too, man,” Oliver replied, a smile creeping up on his face as he started thinking about it. Cooper had always been there for him, through his failed relationships with Gina and Bree. Could he really ‘like’ Cooper in that way? Oliver hadn’t thought that he could be gay but Cooper brought out some new feelings in him. After a few more minutes of playing the game, the two of them turned the TV off and thought about what else they could do.

“You wanna bowl in the basement?” Cooper asked, his smile growing wider as he inched closer to Oliver.  
“Yeah,” Oliver replied, taking a deep breath as he followed Cooper downstairs. Once they got to the basement, Cooper grabbed a few bowling balls and entered both his and Oliver’s name into the scoreboard.  
“Ready to lose?” Oliver quipped, a cheeky grin forming on his face.  
“Yeah,” Cooper replied jokingly. The game was fun and Oliver was happy that he didn’t have to worry about a girlfriend right now. He could just enjoy Cooper’s company and really be happy for once. The game ended in a surprising tie with both boys having 110 points each. Oliver glanced at his phone, internally cursing himself when he saw the time. It was 9pm. He would have to be home soon.

“I’m sorry Cooper, but I need to get home. I have to be home in an hour,” Oliver said apologetically as he grabbed his jacket.  
“It’s okay,” Cooper replied with a subtle dip in his demeanor as he led Oliver towards the front entrance.  
“Thanks for that dinner, it was really nice,” Oliver said as Cooper ran towards the door.  
“Wait! Why don’t you stay the night?” Cooper asked, surprising Oliver.  
“I’ll text my mom and ask her,” Oliver replied, heading into one of the other rooms to call her.  
“Hi Mom,” Oliver started when Katie answered the phone.  
“Hi honey, where are you?” Katie asked with a worried tone in her voice.  
“I was just at Cooper’s house and I was wondering if I could spend the night there,” Oliver replied.  
“Sure,” Katie replied.  
“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow!” Oliver replied happily. Oliver came back downstairs and found Cooper sitting in front of the large movie screen in the basement.  
“You wanna watch a movie?” Cooper asked, patting the empty part of the couch and motioning for Oliver to sit with him.  
“Yeah,” Oliver replied. Looking at Cooper’s array of DVDs, Oliver pointed towards Paranormal Activity, a shudder running down his spine as he thought about how scared he got when he went through the haunted house with his dad. He decided to face his fears as he picked up the DVD case and handed it to Cooper, a nervous smile forming on his face as he sat down on the couch. Cooper decided to make some popcorn while Oliver excused himself to the bathroom.  
Oliver breathed heavily and washed his face. It’s gonna be okay, he told himself, splashing his face with water before going back to meet Cooper, who had made the popcorn.  
“Ready?” Cooper asked, smiling as he found the remote for the DVD player.  
“Yep,” Oliver replied nervously as he sat down next to Cooper. Oliver thought he would be freaking out for the whole movie but he stayed surprisingly calm with the exception of a few jump scares. When he got scared, he would unintentionally move closer to Cooper and hug him. Cooper found this cute so he would let Oliver move closer and after a while, the movie ended and they fell asleep on the couch.  
The next morning, Oliver woke up and felt really happy about last night. That was really fun and there was never any awkwardness between them. Oliver felt like he didn’t have to hide anything from Cooper. He could be truly open with him. He carefully got off of the couch, trying not to wake Cooper up in the process. It didn’t work because within a few seconds, Cooper woke up, taking a moment to adjust to the lights that they hadn’t turned off before they fell asleep.  
“Morning,” Cooper said groggily, his hair an unfettered mess as he scanned the messy room.  
“Hey,” Oliver replied, realizing that he didn’t bring a change of clothes for today. “Can I borrow a shirt?” he asked.  
“Sure,” Cooper answered, heading upstairs to grab one from his giant walk-in closet.  
“Thanks,” Oliver replied once Cooper came back downstairs. With that, Oliver took a shower, thinking about why he wasn’t ready to tell Bree that he loved her. Was he really that unsure about how he felt about her or was he confused about his sexuality? He sighed, deciding to think about it later as he got his clothes on.  
“Well, I’ll see you later,” Cooper said as Oliver grabbed his stuff.  
“Yeah, this was really fun dude,” Oliver replied as the two hugged. As they got out from the embrace, Cooper suddenly kissed Oliver, which stunned both of them as an awkward silence hung in the room like a pungent perfume.  
“I’m sorry,” Cooper apologized, his voice sounding like it was going to break as he ran upstairs. Oliver wanted to run after him but he decided to try to process this and think it over so he wouldn’t say anything he would regret later. He walked outside and saw his dad was there to pick him up. Oliver decided he might as well tell his dad now about how he felt and that he might be gay.  
“Hi, how was your sleepover with Cooper?” Greg asked as Oliver got into the car.  
“It was good, I guess,” Oliver replied hesitantly.  
“What happened?” Greg asked, a caring inflection coming into his voice.  
“Cooper kissed me,” Oliver replied, pausing for a few seconds after he said that. “And I think I liked it,” he continued, staring down at the floor of the car and only seeing his dad peripherally.  
“So, are you gay?” Greg asked, turning to look at Oliver now.  
“Y-yes,” Oliver replied, bringing his gaze to his dad as he said that.  
“I want you to know that I love you,” Greg reassured, hugging Oliver.  
“Thanks, dad,” Oliver replied, breathing a sigh of relief as his dad started the car.  
“But what should I tell Cooper?” he asked.  
“Just tell him how you feel, and be honest,” Greg suggested.  
“You’re right,” Oliver said.


	2. Chapter 2: Coming Out

Cooper’s POV:

Why did I just kiss Oliver? He’s my best friend and now I’ve probably scared him off! I should call him to clear this up. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer, each dial tone mocking me as I grew more impatient. After a minute, there was no answer. I sighed, my eyes watering as I realized that I screwed up things with him. I need to make some kind of grand gesture, something to apologize, tell him I love him. But what should I do?

Meanwhile

When Greg and Oliver got home, Oliver immediately wanted to tell Katie that he was gay. “Hey, Mom?” Oliver called.   
“Yes?” Katie asked.  
“Can I talk to you? Are Taylor and Anna-Kat here?” Oliver asked.   
“Yeah, do you want me to get them?” Katie replied, slightly confused by Oliver’s question.  
“Yes,” Oliver replied. Katie called Taylor and Anna-Kat downstairs, both of whom noticed Oliver’s nervous demeanor.   
“I have something to tell everyone,” Oliver started, closing his eyes as he continued. He breathed one more time and said, “I’m gay”. When he opened his eyes, he saw everyone smiling at him.   
“We love you,” Katie said as herself, Greg, Taylor, and Anna-Kat hugged him. Oliver smiled.   
“What made you realize?” Taylor asked.  
“Cooper, he kissed me,” Oliver replied, shades of red emerging on his face. Katie smiled at this fact, wanting to help him.   
“Do you like him?” Katie asked.  
“I’m not sure,” Oliver replied, sighing as he sat down. “I just want to be alone right now,” he continued as he headed upstairs to his room. On his bed, Oliver saw his phone. There was a missed call from Cooper. Cooper didn’t leave a message, making Oliver sad that he had blown things with him. He thought that it might be a good idea to go to Cooper’s house and talk to him in person. But he decided to leave Cooper alone for the rest of the day. Instead, Oliver laid down on his bed and fell asleep minutes later.   
When he awoke from his slumber, the sky was a warm blend of orange and purple as the sun dropped below the horizon. Oliver looked around the house, not seeing anyone there. He was so surprised by everyone being gone that a knock on the door made him jump. He went to the door and opened it.  
“Cooper?” Oliver asked.


	3. Confession

“Hi,” Cooper said as Oliver let him inside.  
“What are you doing here?” Oliver asked, a layer of nervous sweat growing on his forehead.  
“I wanted to talk to you about earlier today,” Cooper replied, sitting down in the kitchen next to Oliver.  
“I’m sorry for how I reacted to you kissing me, I was just so surprised by it,” Oliver interrupted, stopping himself when he saw Cooper visibly flinch when Oliver mentioned it. Cooper was visibly sweating as Oliver sat down next to him.  
“Oli, I—” Cooper started, trying to collect his thoughts.  
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I feel the same way,” Oliver clarified, inching closer to Cooper as both of them stood up. Cooper chuckled and said,  
“It’s funny, I was planning on doing this big gesture to tell you how I felt but this is a lot more special,” Cooper replied.  
“I know what’ll make this more special,” Oliver said as he leaned in to kiss Cooper.  
“That was nice,” Cooper complimented, still a bit stunned this was actually happening.  
“Thanks,” Oliver replied, lightly blushing as he led Cooper towards the front door.  
“Would you want to go on a date?” Cooper prompted, his face getting sweaty as he approached the door.  
“Yeah, that would be great,” Oliver replied.  
“Since we don’t have school next week, we could do it anytime. I’m not really doing anything for Christmas and my parents are on a month-long cruise, so it’s up to you,” Cooper explained.  
“Okay, could we just hang out at your house? The food at your house is probably better than at a restaurant,” Oliver replied.  
“What day would be best for you?” Cooper asked.  
“Monday,”  
“Okay, I’ll see you then,” Cooper replied before kissing Oliver on the cheek and heading back home.  
Monday  
“You need any date advice?” Greg asked Oliver as he parked the car in front of Cooper’s house. Oliver was wearing a pressed salmon button down shirt and tank khakis. He also had a single red rose to give to Cooper to add some pizzazz to the date.  
“No, Dad. I’ll be fine,” Oliver replied, hugging his dad as he got out of the car.  
“Text me when you’re ready to be picked up,” Greg called out as he drove away.  
Oliver walked up the long, winding staircase, to Cooper’s front door. Ringing the doorbell, he breathed and tried to stifle the sweat that was starting to form on his forehead. Oliver was a bit surprised to see one of Cooper’s butlers answer the door.  
“You’re Oliver, right?” the butler asked.  
“Yes,” Oliver replied.  
“Cooper is downstairs in the kitchen,” the butler explained, leading him downstairs.  
“Thank you,” Oliver said, handing the butler his coat. Oliver headed downstairs and saw Cooper in a light blue button down shirt and black pants.  
“Hi,” Oliver greeted, handing Cooper the rose.  
“Thanks,” Cooper said, hugging Oliver and kissing him on the cheek.  
“How was your weekend?” Oliver asked as he sat down across from Cooper.  
“It was good. My parents called and I came out to them. It went well, they seemed to be okay with it,” Cooper explained.  
“That’s awesome!” Oliver exclaimed. With that, Oliver started eating the delicious smelling lasagna that Cooper had prepared. “This is really good!” Oliver continued, quickly finishing his plate.  
“Thanks,” Cooper replied, blushing. The two didn’t really talk that much for the rest of dinner since they were too busy eating their food. Once they finished eating, Cooper asked if there was anything Oliver wanted to do but both of them were too tired since they had eaten so much.  
“I should call my dad, thanks for this nice dinner,” Oliver said, quickly texting Greg that he was ready to go.  
“You’re welcome, I’ll see you later,” Cooper replied, hugging Oliver as he led him upstairs. Oliver grabbed his coat and waited until Greg arrived.  
“How was your date?” Greg asked as Oliver got into the warm car.  
“It was good,” Oliver replied, shivering as he put his seatbelt on.  
“That’s great,” Greg replied, a worried cadence in his voice that both of them decided to ignore for now. Oliver was so tired that he fell asleep on the drive home as Greg hoped that Oliver and Cooper wouldn’t be bullied at school for being together.


	4. A New Year

Oliver and Cooper didn’t see each other too much for the rest of winter break. Cooper’s parents actually stuck around for a few days to make sure Cooper would be okay going back to school. Meanwhile, Oliver knew his dad was worried about him getting bullied at school but he assured both of his parents that he would be fine.  
The boys finally got back to school after the lenghty winter break, eager to see one another. Cooper and Oliver were careful to not be too touchy-feely with each other, as they had both agreed to keep their relationship private for now. The next few weeks went pretty smoothly as Oliver started volunteering at Teen Helpline. The first two weeks on Helpline was pretty easy, mostly some of the town’s kids lamenting how hard living in Westport was.  
However, things changed when Oliver got a more nervous call than usual.  
“Hello, this is Teen Help Line, I’m here to listen. What do you wanna talk about today?” Oliver asked as his gaze drifted towards his phone.  
“I don’t know, I just wanted to talk to someone, I feel kinda bad,” the caller answered.  
“Well, maybe I can help. Is it about a designer sweater or a Beyonce no-show? Did you vacation in the US Virgin Islands instead of the British ones?” Oliver asked sarcastically, still scrolling through his phone.  
“I just feel, it’s all too much, I’m lost. I’ve been in a bad place lately,” the caller said in a depressed tone.  
“I hear that, keep going,” Oliver said sincerely, putting his phone away and looking through his binder.  
“Everyone thinks I’m Superman but I’m not. They don’t get that I just don’t wanna do this anymore. I think I want out,”  
“Out of what, out of school? Out of this call?” Oliver asked, frantically looking around for a supervisor. “Can you hold on for just one second?” he asked.  
“I have to go,” the caller said.  
“Wait, please promise me you’re gonna call back,” Oliver cautioned.  
“OK,” the caller said before hanging up. Oliver was left very worried for the rest of the day as he tried to figure out what the caller was so upset about.  
The next couple of days consisted of Cooper and Oliver trying to find out who the caller was so Oliver could help him. After about a week, Oliver was close to giving up but another call at Teen Help Line changed that.  
“Hi,” the caller said, his voice lodged with worry like a splinter. Oliver realized who it was, and was determined to help him this time.  
“Hey, it’s you. Are you doing alright?” Oliver asked in a kind tone.  
“I’m worried, I have a secret that I can’t tell anyone. I--” the caller said, trailing off as he started to cry and his voice broke.  
“It’s okay, you can tell me. This is completely confidential,” Oliver assured him.  
The caller breathed before saying, “I’ve never told anyone this, I’m gay”.  
“See, you did it? Will, I know this will be hard but you can be yourself and come out. You have nothing to worry about. I know the football team puts up a front of being larger than life but they’re not. They’re still human,” Oliver replied, internally cursing himself when he realized he wasn’t supposed to reveal that he knew who this caller was.  
“Wait, how do you know I was on the football team and how’d you know my name? Are you that guy who was talking about calling into Teen Helpline? Well, you better not tell anyone about this!” Will exclaimed.  
“I’m sorry, I was just trying to figure out who you were after that first call. It was scary, I had never gotten a call like that and I just wanted to help,” Oliver replied.  
“I’m not gonna let anyone find out about me,” Will shouted, quickly hanging up the phone. About a half hour later, Oliver was about to leave the building when Will arrived in his car and stomped towardas Oliver angrily.  
“Will, I swear I won’t tell anyone that you’re gay,” Oliver begged, his heart racing as Will inched closer to him.  
“I’ll make sure of that,” Will threatened, his face just inches away from Oliver’s. Without thinking, Will leaned in and kissed Oliver. Oliver was confused but gave into the kiss for a few seconds before Will pushed him away, nearly making Oliver fall to the ground.  
“I’m sorry,” Oliver acquiesed, getting up and trying to keep his distance from Will.  
“You’re good at that,” Will complimented, a blush forming on his cheeks. “But I’m still gonna make sure you don’t out me,” he continued as he walked back to his car. Oliver didn’t know what Will meant until he got home. That was when he saw Will’s post on Instagram, which revealed Oliver to be gay. Apparently, Will posed as Oliver and said that he was gay to stop Oliver from outing him.  
Oliver wasn’t really worried about himself, but he was worried about Cooper. Now his relationship with Cooper would be under immense scrutiny at school. Oliver decided to call Cooper to figure out what he should do.  
“Hi dude, did you see a post about me on Instagram? The guy I was trying to help from Teen Helpline figured out that I knew him. He told me he was gay and he seemed scared about me outing him. He came to the Teen Helpline building and threatened me. And I’m sorry, but he did kiss me. So, what should we do?” Oliver explained, hoping Cooper wouldn’t hate him for what he did.  
“Well since you kissed Will, maybe you should be with him. Maybe we should break up for a little bit until we can be fully out cuz I’m tired of having to hide our relationship and sneak around. I’m not sure why you were so worried about being out anyway, you have the most loving, accepting family ever!” Cooper exclaimed angrily.  
“What happened with your parents? I thought you said it went well,” Oliver asked, perplexed.  
“I’m sorry, I was lying. I tried to tell my parents but I got nervous and then they left again before I could tell them,” Cooper explained, ashamed of what he had done.  
“It’s okay, if you want to come out to them, I can help you,” Oliver offered.  
“Thanks, and I’m sorry for yelling at you. I love you, Oli,” Cooper replied.  
“Love you too, Cooper,” Oliver said, before hanging up the phone.


End file.
